To achieve this, he needs to cleanse his land of the filthy Christian kuffar, especially the apostates of Islam who may lead Mohammed’s faithful astray.

Many Muslims tend to get a little tetchy when they hear of the Qur’an being burned. This is perhaps understandable when one considers that it is not simply a book to them, but the way, the truth and the life. The Qur’an is not the Islamic equivalent of the Bible; it is their salvation; their Jesus. The sorrow and anger felt by many Muslims at the burning of the Qur’an is more akin to the grief and indignation that may be felt by Christians when Jesus is mocked, derided and blasphemed.

But Christians tend not to respond with threats of violence and bloodshed. Those Islamist extremists who seek to eradicate the Christian scriptures by burning them are met by determined believers who will simply print and disseminate more. Last year, Elam Ministries distributed 100,000 New Testaments and 100,000 Bibles in Iran. Over recent years, with virtually no support, they have made available to inquisitive Iranians well over a million New Testaments and half a million Bibles. They have done this in spite of ferocious hostility from Iran’s government, and despite many of their workers risking their lives and liberty to see their fellow countrymen read the scriptures. Some are presently in prison for their work, suffering for their faith.

It was therefore a source of profound encouragement that the Iranian state persecution of Christians was recently debated in Parliament (fast-forward to 16:55). Foreign Minister Alistair Burt MP stated that the UK Government condemned the state persecution of Christians in Iran and the burning of Bibles by the Iranian authorities. He said: “We repeatedly call on Iran to respect the rights of all who choose their own faith and methods of worship in bi-lateral meetings in Tehran and London… We are aware of unconfirmed reports of the burning of Bibles in Iran. The UK wholly condemns the desecration of any spiritual or religious artifacts or symbols of faith including scriptures... We call on Iran to end this hypocrisy and religious intolerance.”

This unequivocal statement was in response to an earlier speech in which Andrew Selous MP had raised serious concerns regarding the treatment of Christians in Iran. Mr Selous said: “Iran wants to persecute Christians in secret but I believe the world should know and show its concern for what it is doing... Iran claims there is religious freedom but the reality is very different.”

He listed recent occasions on which Bibles were confiscated and burnt by the Iranian authorities. He said that in May 2010 hundreds of Bibles were intercepted and burnt on the Iraqi border, in October 2010 over three hundred Bibles were taken and burnt on the Turkish border and in February 2011 three hundred Bibles were seized in Salmas and there was a public burning. He pointed out that many of those in Parliament and around the world rightly condemned the Florida pastor Terry Jones for burning the Qur’an but went on to say that by contrast: “I'm not aware of any political leader in Iran, Islamic or otherwise, who has condemned these burning of Bibles. Indeed I hope that Muslim leaders in the UK will condemn this practice.”

Mr Selous went on to explain the broader situation. He observed: “There has been an escalation in the persecution, indeed there have been 282 known arrests of Christians in 34 cities since June 2010, of which 41 have spent between one and eight months in prison, mainly in solitary confinement. They have been subjected to hours of interrogation, facing verbal and physical torture, lack of medical treatment and they're called to renounce their faith. Prisoners are often expected to pay large amounts of money and the deeds to their properties in order to get out of prison.”

He then listed the names of a number of Christians still in prison for their faith and the dates on which they were first arrested. He called on the UK Government to be active in calling for the release of those arrested for their faith; to call for an investigation into the way the Iranian Government uses the death sentence for apostasy; to denounce the use of intimidation as a method of curtailing religious freedom; and to call on Iran to fulfill its constitutional provision for religious freedom and address its rhetoric and constitutional discrimination against religious minorities.

In Alistair Burt's statement, he confirmed that 'the demanding of large bails in Iran is sadly a common problem which is shared by all who feel the persecution of the system’. In reference to those Christians still detained he said: “We are aware of those mentioned by my honourable friend who were victims of the round-up and the crack-down on house churches after Christmas last year...a number remain in custody and we continue to believe there are no moral or legal grounds for their detention, a point we've made repeatedly to the Iranian authorities.”

In his conclusion he stated: “This intimidation on the grounds of faith and worship should stop immediately and we call on Iran to allow all members of all faiths to freely participate in open worship.”

As His Grace’s readers and communicants will know, freedom of worship and freedom of religion are non-negotiable to him. While we may occasionally be irritated and frustrated by the gradual erosion of some of our historic liberties, we must never lose sight of the fact that our brothers and sisters in Islamic lands are persecuted, imprisoned, tortured and murdered for their beliefs. And when they are not being burned alive, decapitated or splattered over their church walls, they walk every day in fear, but live every minute thanking God that they have more precious hours to tell the descendents of Abraham and Ishmael of the One who was descended of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and that the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations…

45 Comments:

Anonymous said...

The fact that Burt raised this despicable situation does not mean that the “UK Government condemns Bible burning in Iran”. But Burt is to be commended. There has been no official Government condemnation at all. Neither will there be while Lib/Lab/Con continue sucking up to the “religion of peace” for votes.

Take yesterday’s jailing of four “extremists” for beating an RE teacher within an inch of his life in Bow. The sentences handed out were an insult. Imagine the situation if four white “kuffar” had beaten up an imam. The liberal left political elite, judiciary and the BBC would describe it as a “hate crime” of the most diabolical proportions and would never let the country forget it. The perpetrators would be tried and retried until sentences of several decades were handed down and millions more pounds of tax payers cash would be thrown at “minority” groups in the East End.

Burning a Bible may be a symbolic act to some Muslims but it is a pointless exercise.With worldwide access to the internet via computers and mobile phones the Word of God is made available to all who have these devices. ............."So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."—Isaiah 55:11

"As His Grace’s readers and communicants will know, freedom of worship and freedom of religion are non-negotiable to him."

Let's hope his readers and communicants are thankful that Ratko Mladic, 'The Butcher of Bosnia', the man behind the Srebrenica massacre, where 8,000Muslim men and boys were slaughtered, was finally captured yesterday.

Mladic is to stand trial for the 1992–1995 Siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre — the latter being largest mass murder in Europe since World War II

Religious and ethnic intolerance is shameful and sinful where ever it raises its ugly head.

Both Shia and Sunni are unrelenting in their war on Christianity. We should be thankful that the leader of the free world, Barack Hussein Obama has declared, for his part, that he is not at war with Islam.

One has to bear in mind that, though the media try to portray these events as a muslim 'holocaust', the number of dead is disputed and the muslims themselves were not averse to the mass slaughter and ethnic cleansing of persons they don't like (just about everybody, including other muslims).

Don't click the link if you have a weak stomach or are easily distressed. Contains very strong images of death and suffering.

PS This is what happens when you allow muslims into a nation on a massive scale. The muslim population of Kosovo in 1945 was less than 2%. Today it is over 95%, with non muslims subjected to all sorts of persecution and Kosovo illegally declaring independence from Serbia.

Within the next 50 years, for Kosovo, read Birmingham, Bradford, Leeds, etc.

English Viking said "This is what happens when you allow muslims into a nation on a massive scale. The muslim population of Kosovo in 1945 was less than 2%. Today it is over 95%, with non muslims subjected to all sorts of persecution and Kosovo illegally declaring independence from Serbia."

Just as I thought, no unconditional condemnation of the worst crime against humanity since WWII!

Do not dare to play down the scale and horror of the Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 muslim men and boys. No excuse. No justication. No mitigating circumstances.

This is what happens when ethnic groups are stirred up to hate one another and their 'religion' is exaggerated because of the rantings of extremists.

Ethnic cleaning' i.e. the murder of innocent civilians, happens because people put it abroad that different religions and creeds cannot live together and minorities who challenge the dominant culture must be dispatched from whence they came or eliminated.

"The muslim population of Kosovo in 1945 was less than 2%." Absolute garbage - I think that your figure ignores those who were of Albanian ethnic origin (c68% in the 1948) who while officially atheist were in the main probably Muslims.

And of course you conveniently forget that it was you friend the war criminal Slobo who actually took away the autonomous status that Kosove always possessed in the Yugoslavian Federation.

You and your friends attempt to play the numbers game with Srebenica should be treated with similar contempt. A massacre of innocent civilians is a war crime whoever it is committed against and regardless of the number of victims. Just go away and hide back under the stone from which you creeped.

I have advocated the execution of war criminals on this thread, so calling them my 'friends' is just a childish attempt at moral superiority that won't work.

Your figures are just plain wrong, simple as that. Albanians are born/live in Albania. If they are born/live somewhere else, like Serbia, then they are Serbian. The fact that they refused to assimilate to the point where people now consider them to be the indigenous in Kosovo should not be lost on those concerned about exactly the same events happening in Western nation near you, sometime soon

PS Getting high and mighty about war criminals is a bit rich coming from a Tory. Has Cameron killed any children again lately? I suppose brown ones don't count, especially if they are related to Gadaffi, eh?

Dodo: "Let's hope his readers and communicants are thankful that Ratko Mladic, 'The Butcher of Bosnia', the man behind the Srebrenica massacre, where 8,000Muslim men and boys were slaughtered, was finally captured yesterday."

Well, he needs to go through the court I suppose but yes. The fact of that massacre makes me feel sick even now.

English Viking said... "Try going to Wiki and searching 'Abuse by members of Roman Catholic orders'."

Wikipedia - the font of all truth and knowledge?

The word 'allegation' seems to be used repeatedly in this 'article'.

Back to ethnic and religious belief if you please. Do stay on topic Norseman.

By the way, I'm no historian but didn't the crusades begin because the Eastern Orthodox Church asked the Roman Catholic Church for assistance? I think it was fearful of an invasion by Muslims and they had lost ground in the Holy Land.

Little left for comment but to say Yes. Good to have the link to Elam as further source of information (noting that Baroness Cox is one of the Board of Reference).

The proportion of the population of this country (UK) must be dwindling who will recognise the source for the closing part of the article:

"the One who was descended of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and that the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations…"

And even those who do, and who feel its resonance, may find it difficult to discern its significance in connection with religious or pseudo-religious enmities today. But after seeing the Elam link and "Ongoing persecution of Christians" video the question seems to melt away.

(And this links to a Youtube clip about "Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani - Gilan, Iran - Sentenced to be executed on 10/24/2010 for Apostasy": His parting letter from prison and the judicial record of his condemnation.)

[Was Microsoft Silverlight bluedog's problem (11.03)? Haven't solved it here, but there is plenty else, including the links to Cranmerian back numbers]

[Abp Cranmer 16:50: noted re hyperlinks, which may account for some past rejects, though have never knowingly embedded a hyperlink.]

I see that the Last Dodo is viewing the world through rosy tinted spectacles again. No tears for all the serbs killed I see. The only thing Mladic is guilty of is fighting fire with fire. Please go to Atlas shrugs website and read and watch you may,just may have your eyes opened.

You're not attempting to minimise the seriousness of the rape of children that has been of epidemic proportions in the cat-lick club for decades, are you?Just pesky children, making 'allegations', hmm? Perhaps you could apply to be a Bishop with that attitude?

The popes were instrumental (with the emphasis on mental) in dragging Europe into the Crusades. I don't disagree with the defensive response to an invading force, nor really the liberation attempts in Israel. I was pointing out that you cannot really have any moral authority to be spitting your dummy in righteous indignation at war crimes when papa and Romish mates virtually invented them.

Catholicism is really good at holding two diametrically opposite opinions at the same time, just like cat-licks.

Instead of issuing mere words of complainst against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the British government should immediately take the practical step of closing down the television studios in London of Ahmadinejad's 24/7 propaganda against the West, inc Britain, from Iran's state TV channel, 'PRESS TV' on Sky satellite.

The 68% were identified as Albanian in the 1948 census - you might wish to argue about whether they should have been in Kosovo or not and the label attached to them, but they were almost certainly predominantly Moslem and as you point out it is unlikely that they were atheist. Hence your 2% figure is absolute garbage - and I suspect represents Moslems from other "ethnic" origins - Bosnians and Turks probably.

If like me you think that all war criminals should be punished (although we disagree on the punishment) then what do Moslem (or Croat) war crimes have to do with it? Why are the numbers killed or how the victims describe the crimes of any relevance?

Mr Dodo @ 17.51 said, 'By the way, I'm no historian but didn't the crusades begin because the Eastern Orthodox Church asked the Roman Catholic Church for assistance? I think it was fearful of an invasion by Muslims and they had lost ground in the Holy Land.'

Indeed. Here's an extract from wikipedia regarding the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, 'On October 18, 1009, under Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, orders for the complete destruction of the Church were carried out. It is believed that Al-Hakim "was aggrieved by the scale of the Easter pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which was caused specially by the annual miracle of the Holy Fire within the Sepulchre. The measures against the church were part of a more general campaign against Christian places of worship in Palestine and Egypt.'

Sounds familiar. Let us accept the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as a most important site in the history of Christianity, ranking possibly with the Kabaa from a Muslim perspective. Imagine the drama if the 1000th anniversary of the destruction of the Kabaa by Crusaders had fallen on 18th October 2009. We would have had a plethora of fatwas, jihadi videos, suicide bombings, absurd posturing by heavily armed troops of Al-Quds Brigades, the usual tedious expressions of victimhood.

But what happened in the Christian world on 18th October 2009?

Nothing.

As you say, the Crusades were a long time ago and things have changed. Sadly the attitudes of the Muslims are the exception that proves this rule.

Some Americans have been vehemently opposing their President for betraying their heritage to Islam.

But it seems that the password to the interventionist policy in Libya for the three women close to President Obama -- Hillary Clinton (Secretary of State), Susan Rice (ambassador at the UN), Samantha Power (National Security Council) -- is R2P: "Responsibility to Protect". [Irish Independent, May 27 2011 "Arab Christians don't see events in Middle East as liberating"].

Who dreamt of such conflicted motivations in the global contest with the Sharian misogyny prevailing in the Arab (and Iranian) states?

But what "Protection" goes to the Arab Christians?

Was it not Constantine's mother, the formidable Helena, who founded the chuches of the Holy Sepulchre

(which bluedog has mentioned)

and other holy places of the now imperially accepted religion, signified by his vision of the Cross before defeating his rival at Milvian Bridge?

Obviously, he submits works to the Guardian, where lying is a pre-requisite to employment. If what he was saying is true, why don't Russia, China, India and dozens of other UN members recognise it as independent, instead of branding the declaration of independence 'illegal'.

The evidence is in your own admission that persons you openly admit called themselves and were categorised as Atheists needing to be muslim to arrive at your figure. You say they were 'probably muslim', but have no evidence for this.

I have been told off by His Grace for posting links, so I can't put one up here, but if you go to Wiki and search 'Demographic History of Serbia' you'll find the official number (according to the census taken in 1948) of muslims is 17,315, from a total population of 6,527,966.

You were right that my figures were incorrect. I OVER-estimated the amount of muslims.

You could also check older versions of Encyclopædia Brittanica for the its take on the pogrom carried out by the muslims on the Serbs during WWII which according to EB is 'rivalled only by the extermination of the Jews'. You'll need to go to an older version because the newer ones are infected by PC nonsense, the like of which Noel Malcolm and your own good self spout.

'Demographic History of Serbia' you'll find the official number (according to the census taken in 1948) of muslims is 17,315, from a total population of 6,527,966.

Your figures are correct - what you are ignoring is the 60%+ who were recorded as "Albanian". I think it is a pretty fair supposition that most of them were Moslems (even though the official line may have been otherwise). To try and argue as you did that Kosovo was flooded with Moslems after 1945 is just plain silly - a lot of the Moslems were already there they were just called "Albanians" in the 1948 census.

I am not going to start playing your game of comparative pogrom/ethnic cleansings to doi so is just politically and morally incorrect - and if that makes me PC well so be it. I have no doubt that Moslems have committed pogroms/genocide - Armenia obviously springs to mind - but that will still not excuse what Milosevic did in Kosovo or what happened in Srebenica.

I wasn't aware that I had - I only criticised your misuse of statistics to justify your own counter aggression. I am quite aware that those behind both forms of aggression would be quite happy to sting me up or similar.

About His Grace:

Archbishop Cranmer takes as his inspiration the words of Sir Humphrey Appleby: ‘It’s interesting,’ he observes, ‘that nowadays politicians want to talk about moral issues, and bishops want to talk politics.’ It is the fusion of the two in public life, and the necessity for a wider understanding of their complex symbiosis, which leads His Grace to write on these very sensitive issues.

Cranmer's Law:

"It hath been found by experience that no matter how decent, intelligent or thoughtful the reasoning of a conservative may be, as an argument with a liberal is advanced, the probability of being accused of ‘bigotry’, ‘hatred’ or ‘intolerance’ approaches 1 (100%).”

Follow His Grace on

The cost of His Grace's conviction:

His Grace's bottom line:

Freedom of speech must be tolerated, and everyone living in the United Kingdom must accept that they may be insulted about their own beliefs, or indeed be offended, and that is something which they must simply endure, not least because some suffer fates far worse. Comments on articles are therefore unmoderated, but do not necessarily reflect the views of Cranmer. Comments that are off-topic, gratuitously offensive, libelous, or otherwise irritating, may be summarily deleted. However, the fact that particular comments remain on any thread does not constitute their endorsement by Cranmer; it may simply be that he considers them to be intelligent and erudite contributions to religio-political discourse...or not.

The Anglican Communion has no peculiar thought, practice, creed or confession of its own. It has only the Catholic Faith of the ancient Catholic Church, as preserved in the Catholic Creeds and maintained in the Catholic and Apostolic constitution of Christ's Church from the beginning.Dr Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1945-1961

British Conservatism's greatest:

The epithet of 'great' can be applied only to those who were defining leaders who successfully articulated and embodied the Conservatism of their age. They combined in their personal styles, priorities and policies, as Edmund Burke would say, 'a disposition to preserve' with an 'ability to improve'.

I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph.Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS.(Prime Minister 1979-1990)

We have not overthrown the divine right of kings to fall down for the divine right of experts.Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC.(Prime Minister 1957-1963)

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.Sir Winston Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can).(Prime Minister 1940-1945, 1951-1955)

I am not struck so much by the diversity of testimony as by the many-sidedness of truth.Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC.(Prime Minister 1923-1924, 1924-1929, 1935-1937)

If you believe the doctors, nothing is wholesome; if you believe the theologians, nothing is innocent; if you believe the military, nothing is safe.Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC.(Prime Minister 1885-1886, 1886-1892, 1895-1902)

I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few.Benjamin Disraeli KG, PC, FRS, Earl of Beaconsfield.(Prime Minister 1868, 1874-1880)

Public opinion is a compound of folly, weakness, prejudice, wrong feeling, right feeling, obstinacy, and newspaper paragraphs.Sir Robert Peel, Bt.(Prime Minister 1834-1835, 1841-1846)

I consider the right of election as a public trust, granted not for the benefit of the individual, but for the public good.Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool.(Prime Minister 1812-1827)

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.The Rt Hon. William Pitt, the Younger.(Prime Minister 1783-1801, 1804-1806)